Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th!

People all over the US will be off work, gathering with friends and family and eating lots and lotsss of food!

Just a little reminder that just because it's there, doesn't mean you have to eat it!  

But at the same time, DO allow yourself to enjoy the festivities!

Fast Food Summer Salads

For people on the go, there's good news when it comes to eating healthy: Fast food restaurants are listening to our demands for healthier choices!

Just because the kids want a Happy Meal, or your boyfriend can eat a super-sized Burger-Fries-Shake combo, doesn't mean you have to join them.  Here's a list of fast food restaurants with the best summer salad options:

- Wendy's Berry Almond Chicken Salad
-  McDonald's Premium Salad with Grilled Chicken
-  Burger Kind's Chicken, Apple & Cranberry Garden Fresh Salad with Tendergrill Chicken
-  Carl's Jr.'s Grilled Chicken Salad

*Remember that the point is to be as healthy as possible while getting the most nutrients including fresh greens, some fruit and protein.

Watch for extra fat and calories added by fried protein and certain salad dressings.  You usually can't go wrong with grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette!

Summer Salad Recipes

Berry Salad:
Fresh Spinach
Fresh Blueberries
Walnuts
Gorgonzola Cheese
Lean Grilled Beef
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Lemon Basil Shrimp Salad:
Large Cooked Shrimp
Sliced Red Onion, Red and Yellow Bell Pepper
Leafy Mixed Greens
Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

My Favorite:
Fresh Spinach
Dried Cranberries
Walnuts
Feta Cheese
Grilled Chicken
Balsamic Vinaigrette




Have a good summer salad recipe?  Share it!!!

Summer Salads

There's nothing I crave more than a big healthy salad in the summer.  Think salads are boring?  So wrong!

The summer is the best season to mix it up with your salad because there are many fresh fruits and vegetables available...Yes, I said FRUITS!

Never had fruit on your salad?  You're missing out!  My favorites are strawberries, blueberries, or dried cranberries and I always add at least one of them for a little added sweetness.

The most important part of the salad when you're routinely doing intense workouts is the PROTEIN.  The good news is that almost any kind of protein is appropriate for this kind of salad.  Types of protein to try on your summer salad:

-  Chicken
-  Tofu
-  Shrimp
-  Salmon
-  Tilapia
-  Walnuts

(The best part is that while everybody else is grilling up hot dogs and burgers, you can throw your protein right on the grill too!  Grilling is one of the healthiest ways to cook protein.)

The greens.  My favorite type of green is fresh spinach.  In itself, spinach has so many nutrients including Vitamin A, B6, C, E, K, Calcium, and Iron (just to name a few)

Summer Salads are great for lunch or dinner, easy to make at home, and many restaurants are catching on so you will most likely be able to find one when dining out with friends and family!  Go ahead, try it and let me know what you think!

CUTEST Workout Program for Pregnancy!

(Yes, I'm officially obsessed with workouts for the fab & preggers!)

Ok so maybe there's something about this summer air that has got me thinking about babies...or maybe I'm hearing my biological clock ticking...either way, I've been thinking about babies and pregnant women and, of course, fitness!  So if you've been reading my previous blog posts, you know I've been suggesting good exercises for women to do, whether you're pregnant or not: Kegals, Cardio and Stretching.  If you haven't read them, take some time to go through them now and try them out!

Now that you've read them, I'm sure you're excited about being fit even while your belly is still growing.  So I'm taking it one step further, I found a workout program specified for pregnant women.  It incorporates so much of what I was talking about in my previous posts about getting fit while you're pregnant (maybe not the Kegals, lol) and I kid-you-not, basically squealed when I looked into the website!  The idea is just so cute and simple.

Baby Bump Fitness (how cute is the name?!) is perfect for anyyy pregnant lady out there because it's so easy to follow.  The routines are only 10-15 minutes long and are broken up into trimesters so you don't have to worry about being pushed too hard, too close to your due date.  And they even have routines for after the baby is born and you want your pre-preggers body back!

Anyway, I think it's an adorable idea, and they definitely know what they're talking about when it comes to fitness catering to the fabulously pregnant women out there!  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Go to the Baby Bump Fitness site

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Be careful out there!  I know it's the weekend and there's sooo much to do outside, but just be careful in this heat!

When exercising outdoors, try to workout early mornings or late evenings when the sun is the least strong and the humidity is less intense.

Also, don't forget to hydrate!  WATER WATER WATER!!!  But also, if your workout is extra-intense, you may want to all drink something with electrolytes such as a sports drink to replenish your lost nutrients that you sweat out.

Otherwise, enjoy the weekend!

The Reality of TV

I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for the Real Housewives of...Anywhere

But I often think about how it affects my self esteem.

I'm a big advocate for helping young girls feel good about themselves.  Let's face it, puberty was a bitchhh!  I wish I had guidance growing up to get through all the hardships young women face.  So, naturally, I'm against anything that may influence them in the wrong direction--one would assume that reality television fits that mold.

The thing is, young girls have impressionable minds, and if they don't yet have the ability to decipher between what's real and what's made-up for entertainment reasons, reality TV can be a deadly influence.

I, on the other hand, have been through the whole puberty thing--and thank the Good Lord, I made it out alive.  So I like to think that I have enough maturity to know that what I see on TV isn't real...especially having worked in the grunt work of television production for a good portion of my career!  I do see reality TV as entertainment value, not something I aspire to, as young women still trying to figure out their path in life might.  In fact, I find that it often inspires me to better in my own life!  I may see women who have gotten famous from sleeping with this athlete or that actor, only to be dropped on their behind and slapped with divorce papers, ultimately left with nothing.  I never want to be like that!  So I work hard to support my own behind.  Or there are many women who feel pressures to look young and hot and have gone a little too far getting "work" done to keep up their appearances for the TV screen, only to come out looking crazyyy and realizing that their 15 minutes of fame is already up!  So what do I do?  Get my behind to the gym and recognize what's important in REAL life.  (For me, it's love, family, and ultimate happiness)

So for me to say that reality TV is ruining lives would be hypocritical, because (so far) it hasn't ruined mine.  I don't sit on the couch wishing I was famous for absolutely nothing but being crazy on TV, and often it motivates me to do better for myself and stay grounded.  But  I also think that, as women who have been through the ringer already, it's important to pass down this maturity and self-assuredness to our younger sisters because I'm sure we all wish we had more guidance growing up.  It's our responsibility to show the real reality of being a woman, not a woman on reality TV.